Statistics

Critical investigation of common-mode radiation mechanism from power line communication network

Author

Oswal, Manish.

Date of Issue

2008

School

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Abstract

Power line Communication (PLC) Technology is a convenient and economical alternative for broadband access, multimedia communication and home automation. However the existing PLC technology has issues which are hindering its commercialization and widespread use. One of the main issues is the significant level of CM radiation emitted from the PLC system, which interferes with radio receivers and electronic devices operating in the HF band. Numerous field trials have shown that the emission levels, on the average, are about 20dB higher than the FCC limits. Although these field trials have shown consistent high levels of radiated emissions from the PLC network, no comprehensive in-depth investigation and study have been carried out to understand the fundamental radiation mechanism of the PLC system.
In this thesis, the CM current generation over the power line at high frequencies due to CM noise coupling from source, impedance imbalance and asymmetric power lines are investigated in detail so that practical solutions can be proposed to lower the CM current generated over the power line bundle and the radiated emissions from the PLC network. In order to lower CM current and radiated emissions practical solutions were proposed and were implemented on the PLC modem as well as on the electrical loads. Together the solutions provided a reduction in the CM current and in the radiated emissions of about 30 dB especially at high frequency. Such a significant reduction proved that proposed solutions were indeed effective and in future cost-effective versions of the solutions may be implemented to achieve significant reductions in the CM current and in the radiated emissions even in realistic settings.